Macaroni Salad
So my mother (and grandmother) make this absolutely great macaroni salad that I love. However, my husband isn’t too crazy about it since they add tuna fish to it and he can’t stand seafood (woe is me). So I decided to come up with my own recipe with the family recipe as a base. I’ll add the family recipe in all it’s glory later after I get a complete copy from the family.
So this recipe is coming completely out of my head, so all of the measurements could drastically change. At the moment, I was just cutting up vegetables and stopping when I thought I had enough. I’m not sure if the peppers will over power the salad or not, or whether the dill pickles are a bad idea, but we’ll find out when everyone tries it. If you’re wondering why I added the pickles, I should say that I love the pickles in my mom’s recipe. However, how it will taste without the meat is another thing.
One variation that could be done with this recipe is adding meat to it. My mother’s recipe includes tuna fish, but she has also used shredded chicken (just like the tuna fish, but it’s chicken). Edited 9/25/08: Jesse does not like it with the chicken included. I made this recently for dinner and he said the texture was all off. I will admit that it’s generally better with tuna, but it’s good without meat as well. I actually like it without the meat.
After trying the salad, it actually out really well. According to Jesse, the peppers weren’t overpowering and he didn’t always get some in a bite. However, I was kind of the exact opposite; it seemed like I had peppers in every bite and I wasn’t crazy about that. The onions were a little on the light, and I really didn’t notice them at all. So I increased the onions from 1-1/2 cups to 2 cups. The same goes with the celery and carrots. There were there, I could see them, but I didn’t taste them. (edited 9/25/08: Meijer, a local grocery store, has this section in their produce department that has pre-cut veggies. I actually get a 14oz container that has both celery and carrots in it. Another thing I thought of, I diced all the veggies but the carrots and celery, so I’m going to try dicing them next time and see if that helps) So this is what I’m thinking. Of whatever vegetables you add to the mix, make sure they are all the same measurements. I.e. all 2 cups of carrots, celery, peppers, onions, etc or 1-1/2 cups of everything. Do not mix the measurement amounts.
Edited on 9/25/08: After thinking about it, felt there was too many peppers in the salad, so I decreased the original amount of 2 cups mixed to 1-1/2 cups. I’m not a huge pepper fan, so that’s why I changed the amount. However, all of my measurements are completely to my tastes, so if you like peppers, add as many as you like. This recipe is really easy to do that with. In total, I use about 4 cups of veggies once you measure everything together.
Ingredients:
Miracle Whip
32 oz of macaroni
1-2 cups died dill pickles (about 4 spears)
1-1/2 cups of a mixture of diced green, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers
1 cups diced carrots
1 cups diced celery
1-1/2 to 2 cups diced onions
Directions:
- Prepare macaroni according to directions and refrigerate.
- Chop all vegetables and mix together.
- After the macaroni has cooled completely, mix the veggies in with the macaroni until thoroughly blended. Add Miracle Whip until salad is sufficiently covered to desired effect.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
August 24, 2008
· 
jackie · 
No Comments
Tags: Family · Posted in: Salad
Leave a Reply